Oval Trouble

Since Trump won for the second time, I stopped keeping up with news in the US. I was really annoyed that he won. No offense to Trumpers, but he’s openly racist, sexist, convicted with a scheme to illegally influence election through hush money, found liable of sexual abuse, and so much more. How does he grow in popularity? How does this happen in the 21st century? I thought mankind has moved on past Hitler and Stalin. Oh, Putin is still there. My sister in Virginia is all stressed with this second Trump administration. She told us that he has floated ideas of abolishing the Department of Education. He also is considering cutting funds on schools with Covid-19 vaccine mandates, or has he already? (Are we still in 2020?) How do these happen? Well, I finally broke my abstinence from news when I came across video clips about the latest event these past days.

I suppose they intended to have some agreement, but they ended up with what many are calling a “shouting match”, with no agreement being signed, and the world in shock. My initial reactions were unfavorable against Trump and Vice President Vance who appears to be as headstrong. This guy, the Ukrainian President deserves the world’s sympathy and support. Look at Ukraine having been ravaged by a far more powerful aggressor for three years now. Zelensky has shown himself worthy of admiration and commendation for his resolve in the middle of the war that has torn his country apart. (I guess, in such situations, there’s not much of a choice but to stay strong.) I wouldn’t have half the heart to raise my voice against such a laudable leader. I would just probably sit down and listen and help him sort things out in the best that I can. Why would anyone shout? We’re supposed to be civilized respectable people here. Why is the Vice President so antagonistic against Zelensky? What’s the deal? Did he not say “thank you” in that meeting? Did he come across as ungrateful? Did not the Ukrainian leader gifted Trump with the UFC championship belt won by Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk last year? Was that ungrateful? If you ask me, that was beyond grateful. That was a tribute to the US President and the whole nation of the United States of America. It was like declaring that the USA is the champion. What’s Vance asking for?

On the other hand, Zelensky should have known that he would not be with congenial company. The people who are now in the White House have long had a contemptuous stand towards the war in Ukraine. They resent that the US have been spending billions on the war. They feel that the money should have been spent on Americans. They even doubt the authenticity of the casualties of the conflict. They have shown some predispositions towards associations with Russia’s Putin (which utterly confuses me how some Americans could entertain that thought). Zelensky should have had reservations on his mind that there would be a large percentage of probability that talks would not be favorable to him. He should have set himself up for some unfriendly hits here and there. I think he should have prepared an easy escape if something hostile comes along, like “we’ll think about it”, “we could consider that” or I’ll have my people study the feasibility of that suggestion”, and have himself excused.

What was he saying that Ukraine had been alone from the start? I would agree that although the US had not deployed troops in Ukraine, they were given hundreds of billions worth of dollar in high technology armaments. As soon as the war started, many nations especially those in Europe had sent aid. There had been numerous declarations of support. There had been many withdrawals of support from Russia. Air traffic of almost all nations were diverted from Russian air space. The whole world rallied around to support Ukraine. What is President Zelensky talking about when he said that they had been alone? What would make him say that they’re not alone? Does he want the US to deploy their military units in Ukraine to actually fight with rifles against Russians? Does he envy the Russians who actually have North Korean military support? I imagine that I myself would also take offense if I would hear him complain that they had been alone from the start. What happened to the overwhelming support from different parts of the world?

But despite that, in my modest status, I join in declaration of support agains injustice, aggression and tyranny.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”” Matthew 5:9